


Not Today, Not Tomorrow

by solohux



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Episode XI - The Rise Of Skywalker, Hurt Armitage Hux, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Protective Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 11:33:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18475396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solohux/pseuds/solohux
Summary: Whilst battling through Resistance fighters to get to the Sith Temple, where Palpatine was rumoured to visit, in search for help for the First Order to win the war, Hux is injured. Kylo goes into a frenzy.





	Not Today, Not Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CalicoJinx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoJinx/gifts).



> For my lovely [@kelleyxmarie](http://kelleyxmarie.tumblr.com/) who wanted something based on that tiny clip from the Ep IX teaser where Kylo slams that guy into the ground. I hope you enjoy, darling! Thank you so much for your support! ❤️

The forest reminds Kylo of Starkiller Base. The dense trees, the snowy ground, the smell of burnt flesh as his lightsaber furiously cuts through any Resistance fighter who dares to confront him. He’s yet to gain even a scratch from the enemy’s offense, slashing them down before any of them come _close_ to him, spurred on by every cry of pain they make as they’re slaughtered by the Supreme Leader. In the distance, he can finally see the half-collapsed Sith temple, still tall despite being more akin to a ruin than a place where Emperor Palpatine himself was rumoured to have visited for unknown reasons. It’s even _glowing_ as he grows closer, illuminating the forest in a red hue; Kylo can feel the pulse of his kyber crystal in his lightsaber’s hilt and he _knows_ there are other crystals nearby, reacting to his presence, and it’s sending electricity through his weapon-bearing hand.

And with Vader and his mask offering no aid to his grandson in his quest to conquer the Resistance and then the galaxy, Kylo hopes that the temple with provide the answers he’s been searching for.

“ _Ren, to your right!”_

Kylo whips himself around with speed, coming face-to-face with a burly Resistance fighter having charged at him whilst Kylo stood in awe of the Sith temple. Hux’s call saves him; in less than a second, Kylo’s crackling saber is thrust through the man’s stomach, embedding him on it for a victorious moment before Kylo is back to full alertness, pulling it out of the fighter’s gut and returning to his proud and intimidating stance.

“You could at least _try_ to be careful,” Hux comments, shouting from his position, knelt behind a thick tree, firing his blaster at incoming enemies. “Just for my own peace of mind. Do you _know_ how much paperwork I’d have to complete if you got yourself _killed,_ Supreme Leader?”

Kylo grins, deflecting a couple of incoming shots, “If I didn’t allow a few to get close, they’d just turn and run away. And where’s the fun in that?”

“The _fun,_ ” Hux rolls his eyes, standing up from his crouched position, striding to Kylo’s side, “Is that we leave this godforsaken little planet _in one piece_ and with another pitiful Rebel band destroyed. I mean it, Ren. _Stay vigilant._ ”

After a few more moments of fighting back-to-back, and of Kylo feeling more powerful than ever with his Grand Marshal fighting by his side, Hux yells for the Stormtroopers to begin advancing as the rebellious group seem to be on the slow retreat, moving backwards towards the temple instead of charging at the First Order’s ground squadron. Already, Kylo feels as though this battle is won, the energy from his blood-thirsty lightsaber thrumming through his veins. He stands still for a moment as their Stormtroopers flank him, running past him and into the heat of the fight, firing at anyone and anything that isn’t one of them. The forest, drenched in the power of the dark side, seems to thrum with every drop of Resistance blood that is shed, each death giving Kylo another ounce of power and strength to fulfil his destiny.

But suddenly, his blood runs cold. Something happens, something changes, something _hurts_. He recoils, arms folding over his stomach, trying to protect the area where pain is suddenly radiating from yet his hands show no sign of bleeding. He’s fine, uninjured, remaining unscathed from the Resistance’s pitiful onslaught of soldiers. Yet, he _feels_ pain, not dissimilar to the agonising pulse of the bowcaster wound he received from the Wookie a little over a year ago but his robes remain in one piece, blood doesn’t seep out from his body as it did then.

Then, he hears it.

_“The Grand Marshal is down! Repeat, the Grand Marshal is down!”_

Kylo’s eyes can’t focus, blurring as he tries to look ahead to find Hux but can’t, he only sees a commotion of Stormtroopers as they all come together to make a charge at the enemy. He can’t see Hux, _where is he?_ All of Kylo’s stored energy goes into his sprint, lurching forwards from his position and into the forest, running with such desperate agility that his boots hardly leave marks in the snow.

A Resistance fighter lunges at him but Kylo is more than ready. He doesn’t dignify the man with a quick death but, instead, intercepts him with such strength mid-run that the man ends up on the receiving end of one of the cross-blades of Kylo’s lightsaber, lifted into the air as a result of Kylo’s strength. It’s a swift move, over in a second, but Kylo relished in the physical combat, feeling the man’s weight against him and conquering it as he slams him back down to the cold ground, still feeling the pulsing, red-hot pain of Hux’s injury.

All other deaths by his lightsaber are a blur after that. Kylo cuts enemy fighters down like they’re trees, swinging his blade back and forth with such crudeness that he does take down a couple of trees in his wake, battering his way through anything—living or otherwise—to get to his fallen Grand Marshal.

Hux’s location is a little off to the side of the main stretch of battle, as though distracted by a one-on-one fight, taken away from the protective watch of his Stormtroopers, ending up with injuries that Kylo can’t help but call familiar. Blood seeps out onto the snow from a blaster wound to Hux’s hip, one that he’s slowly curled around as he obviously drifts towards unconsciousness, dark crimson shades staining the fine material of his uniform and greatcoat. But as Kylo drops to his knees, he finds that he can’t tear his gaze away from the cut across Hux’s face, a shoddily-cut line that runs over his right eye and down his cheek; a viroblade attack with the intention to blind. It’s much too early to tell, and Hux’s eyes are scrunched closed, but if the assailant has stolen part of Hux’s sight from him, Kylo won’t rest.

“ _Ren to Shuttle 01-M. I want a medical team to the western sector of the forest, near the temple. **Quickly.** The Grand Marshal is wounded._”

Kylo doesn’t wait for a reply, shoving his comlink back into his pocket as he shuffles closer to Hux, praying to the Sith that he’ll survive.

“Hux? Hey, hey. It’s me,” Kylo shrugs off his thick outer robe and scrunches it up, pressing down hard on the hip wound, feeling a spike of pain as he does so; Hux hisses.

“ _Nnn…._ ” Hux tries to roll over onto his back but Kylo is quick to put his hand on his second-in-command’s shoulder to stop him, fearing choking if Hux isn’t kept lying on his side.

“No. Save your strength,” Kylo says, using his commanding tone of voice though, he knows, redundantly; Hux has never listened to him, domineering tone or otherwise. “Hey. Keep your eyes open, Hux. Look at me. Please, look at me.”

Pale eyelashes flutter for a second before Hux tries his best to open his eyes, blinking quickly a few times before he manages to open them halfway, both eyes staring unfocussed into the middle distance. His wounded eye his bloodshot, blood from the cut staining his pale skin around the socket but with a quick wipe from his discarded robe, Kylo manages to clean what he can from the cut, finding that it is as deep as he first thought. Hux’s sight may be lost.

“Kylo…”

Hearing his first name on Hux’s lips is never a good sign; there are very few times where the Grand Marshal has _ever_ called Kylo by it. Even when in bed together—relieving their stresses—it’s always ‘ _Ren’,_ never _‘Kylo’._ But on Starkiller, when Kylo was fighting for his breaths and expecting death to be the next face he lay his gaze on, a whisper of his name in a familiar voice kept him grounded, calling to him, talking to him as he was moved onto a stretcher and into the warmth of an evacuation shuttle. But as soon as he woke in medbay, it was back to ‘ _Ren’,_ no hint of the softness that Hux had spoken to him in the forest.

“I’m here, Hux.” Kylo finds his free hand on Hux’s uninjured cheek, stroking his thumb back and forth over the perfect, porcelain skin. Hux groans, leaning into the touch as best as he can without jostling his injured body too much, sighing.

“ _Can’t…_ ” Hux’s eyes close again, slowly this time, his body losing rigidity as he relaxes, too much for Kylo’s liking.

“No, _no,_ Hux. Keep your eyes open. The medics will be here, just stay awake for me.”

“ _End…_ ”

“No, Hux! It’s not the end, open your eyes. Please!”

Desperate, Kylo pulls Hux into his arms and into his lap, pressing their foreheads together in the hopes that the contact will reawaken his companion’s subconscious and reuinite them. But Hux stays still and quiet, unmoving and unresponsive. This can’t be it, they’re so close to eliminating the Resistance and conquering everything, he’s never told Hux how he feels, it can’t be the end—

“Save him,” Kylo looks up, focussing his hearing on Hux’s shallow breaths but throwing everything else into the Force. “I know you’re there. I can feel your energy with the dark side. I know of your powers. Save him and I’ll do anything you ask.”

But everything remains calm. Even the snow stops falling, the wind isn’t blowing. The Stormtroopers have won the battle but Kylo has lost the war. In his arms, Hux is still breathing, but he’s pale and unnervingly still, blood still seeping from both wounds. Kylo is losing him. He feels as though his heart has become one with his kyber crystal, cracked and marred, that his body has become his lightsaber, hungry for blood and for power.

“ _I am Kylo Ren,”_ he shouts up into the trees, into the sky. The red hue of the temple seemingly quivers at his voice, subdued by him. He knows that he is worthy. “ _I am the heir of Darth Vader. His blood is mine, his power is mine, the dark side is **mine.** I am one of you, and you **will** help me!”_

The forest falls completely silent, only the sound of Hux’s laboured breaths heard. The Force flutters around him like a newborn butterfly, calm and inquisitive but slowly turns into the predatory flap of a vulture, posed to strike. The wind blows a gale, sending the trees into a stir. The crimson glow that emits from the temple brightens and brightens until Kylo is forced to close his eyes, his ears feeling as though they’re going to burst from the pressure of the air that’s suddenly thick around them—

Then, nothing but a cackle. It fills the forest, a laugh so inherently evil and foul that even Kylo feels shaken by it. He’s never heard the sound before yet, it feels familiar, connected somehow with Luke. His mind tries to fit the pieces together but he’s too disorientated, feeling things rather than seeing them in his mind’s eye; Luke, lightning, a hooded figure, a terrible chuckle that haunts Luke’s dreams even as an old man, ones that he accidentally projects onto Ben. Ben didn’t understand then, Kylo doesn’t understand now. 

Dust settles, the snow resumes its light fall and the red hue returns to a simple glow. In Kylo’s arms, Hux stirs, moving as though wanting to snuggle in closer to the warmth of Kylo’s chest. Whilst the cut on his cheek remains visible, it merely looks to be a thin line rather than a deep and jagged mess. Concentrating, Kylo feels the pain in his side dissipating too, still warm and uncomfortable but nothing compared to the agony that Hux was projecting only moments ago.

“I… _told you…_ to be careful,” Hux mutters, voice strained. Kylo looks down, seeing pale green eyes staring up at him, injured eye no longer bloodshot but looking at him with the familiar agitation that he’s used to.

“You should take your own advice, Grand Marshal,” Kylo replies, glad that Hux is seemingly well enough to _still_ strike up an argument with him. “This is cutting it a little close.”

“Well,” Hux tenses for a moment before relaxing, his gaze finally focussing to look up to Kylo and, judging by the movement of his eye, his sight isn’t harmed. “I suppose that if I didn’t allow a few to get close, they’d just turn and run away. And…where’s the fun in that?”

Kylo finds himself smiling despite his Grand Marshal—his lover—lying injured in the snow and the sounds of his Stormtroopers finishing off the remaining Resistance fighters. He leans down to place a kiss on Hux’s forehead, leaving his lips there for a long few seconds, thanking whatever Force spirits brought Hux back to him and took away the life-threatening injuries. Granted, the cut on Hux’s face may scar and the healing blister on his hip will still have to be seen to but Hux is _alive_ and _warm_ in Kylo’s arms; all he strives for. One day soon, he may even tell Hux how desperately in love he’s fallen with him but, for now, Kylo settles for another kiss on Hux’s forehead before the medics arrive, content when Hux makes a happy sighing sound as he feels Kylo’s soft lips against his skin.

“I’ll be back soon,” Kylo says under his breath as he lifts Hux onto the stretcher, leaving his old, bloodied robe draped across Hux’s body like a blanket. “Don’t get into any more trouble.”

“Yes, Supreme Leader,” Hux replies with a small smile as he finally allows sleep to take him and the droids whirr as the hydraulics of the stretches gently allow them to take their Grand Marshal back to their ship. Kylo watches them leave, mind taunting him with images of Hux dying in his arms, an outcome that could have very well been possibly if it weren’t for whatever spirit came to his aid.

Now alone, surrounded by dozens of fallen, defeated Resistance fighters, Kylo stands at the clearing of the Sith temple, chills running down his spine. As he approaches its crumbled entrance, he turns around as he feels as though he’s being watched, but finds no one, only guarding and patrolling Stormtroopers ahead of him. Perhaps it was Hux, projecting to him before he was boarded onto the shuttle. Kylo keeps on walking, unaware of what lurks ahead.

The spirit of Emperor Palpatine awaits to be paid for its services, for the debt its owed for saving Armitage Hux’s life, enthralled and hungry to meet the one who calls himself _Kylo Ren, Heir of Vader._ A debt for the life of a loved one, a Skywalker ruled by their attachment to an insignificant life, and Palpatine there to offer a deal of a lifetime in exchange for personal gain, power; how history repeats itself.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited about Ep IX, I can't contain it. Let's pray that Hux doesn't have a minor role OR that he doesn't die off-screen!!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! My tumblr is [@solohux](http://solohux.tumblr.com/)❤️
> 
> And I'm also on twitter now! Find me [@solohuxx](https://mobile.twitter.com/solohuxx) 💙


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